Method of producing artificial ice



Nov. 28, 1933.

G. L. POWNALL METHOD OF PRODUCING ARTIFICIAL ICE eet 2 INVENTOR I WWI/4a 4770 Ivar t e e h S 3 W 9 2 M 9 l w M e I n m m 7 d V e 1 u 1 F O N1933- G. L. POWNALL METHOD OF PRODUCING ARTIFICIAL ICE Filed June 13,1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IITrII 1 1 A TTO NE) equipment than heretofore.

Patented Nov. 28, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 21 Claims.

My invention relates to improved method or process of producingartificial ice. One of its objects is to enable a greater weight of iceto be produced per unit of time and freezing tank Another object is tomaterially reduce the first cost and the up kcep of the freezingapparatus required to produce in a given time a prescribed amount ofartiw ficial ice. Another object is to enable clear, pure and corelessblocks of ice to be more economically produced. My invention alsocomprises certain details of operation andorder of procedure, all ofwhich will be fully set forth in the descrip tion of the accompanyingdrawings illustratin apparatus adapted to the carrying out of my improved method, and its mode of operation, and in which drawings Fig 1 isa plan of an ice freezing tank or unit embodying my improvements.

Fig, 2 is a perspective view of a detachable brine circulatingpipeconnectioll, detached.

Fig,- 3 is a perspective view of another brine circulating pipeconnection, detached.

Fig. .4 is a perspective view of another brine circulating pipeconnection, detached.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section throu h the tank or unit shown in Fig. 1,being taken on line .5 of Fig, :1. v 1

Fig. 6 is a perspective view ofione of the interior freezing membersdetached.

Fig. '7 is a central vertical section through one of the stationarilymounted freezing cans before the interior freezing member is detached,taken on line. '77 of Fi 1.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. '7 after the interior freezer memberhas been removed and showing a completed ice block.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 7, illustrating a modification in whicha detachable ice can is employed.

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 after the interior freezing memberhas been detached, and showing a completed ice block.

Fig. 11 is a modification of Fig.6.

The eneral practice heretofore in the manufacture of artificial ice incans has been to apply a refrigerant to the exterior of the cans andallowing the freezing operation to proceed from the side walls of thecans progressively inwardly until a single core space is formed near thecenter of each can. Inpractice with cans of standard dimensions thefreezing operation for each can requires approximately forty-eighthours, with a brine temperature of '14 degrees, and the total number ofcans in use would be suflicient to hold twice the daily capacity oroutput of the apparatus. If it were made possible to freeze each can intwelve hours instead of forty-eight hours, only one-fourth of the u berof cans and brine tank equipment would be required, and hence the firstcost of the ap paratus, and also its annual lip-keep would both bematerially reduced. By reducing the thickness of ice through which thenegative hea is re quired to be conducted from the refr gerant to thesurface of fresh water bein congeal d i is possible to reduce the timematerially, for instance from fortyight hours t twelve hou using cans ofstandard dimensions.

M imp v d m thod omprises enerically ap pl ing a refrigerant to the exerior walls. oi the ice can or container for the water to be frozen, tothereby provide an outer freezing zone, fr ezing progressing inwardlyfrom the walls of the container, and also to empl y an interna ir ezingmember to which a refrigerant is applied to he eby provide an internalfreezin z n freezin progressing from said internal freezing memberutwardly. toward aid outer fr ezing zone until nearly the entirecontents of the container has been converted into ice, and only tworelatively small and narrow core spaces remain onfrozen. The impurecore-Water is then drained away or removed, and the int rnal freezinmember is warmed sniiioiently to be detached and removed upwardly ir mhe ice in the con ainer leavin a removal space betw en the tw corspaces. These three spaces are then filled with fresh water and thefreezing operation from the. exterior inwardly is continued until thewater in said core spaces and said removal space is completely frozen tothereby produce a so id coreless ice block.

In the accompanying drawings 1 have illustrated apparatus ad pt d to thecarryin out f my improved method or process. Said apparatus comprises afreezin tank or fre zing tank un t 15 of the raw-water type, in whichtank are either permanently or detachabl located-a ser es of i cans orice molds .16; Th side walls of said c ans'a're in n ac with the brincontai e in the f z n ank 15, The lower ends of theirs cansare seatedover openin s 17 through the bottom of the tank 15. Pipe connectionstothe bottom of the ice cans provide for supplying precooled fresh waterthrough a pipe line 18 to refill all the ice cans in a designated tankunit 15 at one operation. Air under pressure is supplied to the lowerportion of each ice'mold through an air supplypipe and a series of airerg until the contents of the can, 51 has solidified. with theexception. of the two small core spaces 52 and 53, which contain theimpure core-water; This core water is withdrawn by means of a suctionpump, and flexible connection, and the freezing member detached andremoved. The core spaces 52 and 53 and the space left by removal of thefreezing member 50 are then filled with clean fresh water, and thefreezing operation continued until the ice can is filled with a solidblock of ice as shown in Fig; 10, whereupon the can and ice block may bewithdrawn from the brine tank and the ice loosened and harvested in theusual way, and the can returned to the brine tank for a new operation.It will be noted that the freezing member 24 occupies a minimum amountof space, and hence requires a relatively small volume of water torefill the space from which it is removed, thereby providing forfreezing the water employed to refill this space in a relatively shortperiod of time after refilling, due to the relatively small amount offreezing required and a reserve of negative en ergy stored in the nearlycompleted ice block.

By or through the use of my improved freezing method I am enabled toproduce a designated weight of ice employing one-fourth of the freezingspace and equipment as heretofore generally employed, due to thefreezing operation proceeding from the interior outwardly as well asfrom the exterior inwardly, and to provision of means for convenientlyand reliably carrying the operation forward, such as agitating theunfrozen water, the removal of the core-water, the withdrawal of brinefrom the interior freezing member, the release of the interior freezingmember, and the convenient supply of brine to said interior freezingmember.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings it will be noted that the brine tank15 is divided by a partition 94, to thereby cause the brine to circulatealong one side of the tank past the upper row of cans, and thencereturning in the opposite direction past the lower row of cans asindicated by arrows in Fig. 1. In practice freezing entirely from theexterior of the cans the ice in the upper row of cans would freezemeasurably faster or sooner than in the lower row of cans, due to thebrine entering the brine tank from a brine cooler being cooler than thebrine passing out from the tank 15. This freezing sooner in the upperrow of cans than in the lower is liable to freeze impurities into thecores of the upper cans before the cores of the lower row of cans aresufficiently frozen to justify draining the entire set of core-spaces.Employing my improved method and apparatus the freezing proceeds withsubstantial uniformity in each row of ice cans.

In order to hold the internal freezing members inplace within the icecans at their lower ends I preferably provide channels 64 centrallyacross the bottoms of the cans 16, into which the lower ends of themembers 24 enter to retain the members 24 in place.

It will be noted that the water in the chambers below the bottom of thecans 16 is shielded from the refrigerant partly by means of a heatinsulator, for instance a body of asphaltum 65 occupying the bottom ofthe tank below the line of the can bottoms, and hence after the impurecorewater has been withdrawn and the internal freezing members have beenwithdrawn these corespaces and withdrawal spaces are in communication attheir lower ends, and also communicate with the unfrozen water in thechambers 66 below the can bottoms so that allthese spaces may berefilled'from the pipes 18 and chambers 66 at one operation. beforereleasing the internal freezing members, no. impure core water entersthe withdrawal spaces. V

In the modification Fig. 11 in place of extendingthe brine inlet pipedown to the lower end of the internal freezing member 62 correspondingto the members 24 of Fig- 5, a central partition 63 is inserted in theinterior chamber of the internal freezing member 52 and the brinecirculated down around the lower end of said partition 63 and thence tothe outlet member 36. The member 62 is otherwise similar to the member24.

The improved method herein illustrated and described is capable ofconsiderable modification within the scope of the claims withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim is:

l. The method of producing artificial ice comprising freezing a body ofwater from the exterior inwardly, freezing said body of water from theinterior outwardly for a portion of the freezing operation, removing aninterior freezing member and filling from the bottom, the space left bysaid removal with water to be frozen, and completing the freezingoperation from the exterior inwardly to provide a solid ice block.

2. The method of producing solid blocks of artificial ice in placecomprising freezing a body of water from the exterior inwardly freezingsaid body of water from the interior outwardly for a portion of thefreezing operation to thereby produce a core space upon each side of theinterior freezing zone, removing a freezing member from said interiorfreezing zone, removing the impure core-water from said core spaces fromthe bottom thereof, filling said core spaces and the space left by saidremoval with water to be frozen, and completing the freezing operationfrom the exterior inwardly to provide a solid ice block.

3. The method of producing artificial ice which comprises freezing abody of water from the exterior inwardly freezing said body of waterfrom the interior outwardly for a portion of the freezing operation tothereby produce a core space upon each side of the interior freezingzone, removing the impure core-water from said. core spaces, removing afreezing member upwardly from said interior freezing zone and fillingsaid core-spaces and said removal space from the bottom with distilledwater to be frozen therein, and completing the freezing operation fromthe exterior inwardly to provide a solid ice block.

4. The method of producing artificial ice comprising freezing anexternal zone of a body of water from the exterior inwardly, freezing aninterior zone of said body of water from an internal freezing memberoutwardly for a. portion of the freezing operation, thereby forming corespaces. upon opposite sides of the internal freezing zone and betweensaid external and internal freezing zones, removing impure core-waterfrom the bottom of said core spaces, removing said internal freezingmember, filling said core-spaces and the removal space from the bottomthereof with pure water and continuing the freezing operation from theexterior inwardly to provide a solid coreless ice block.

5. The method of producing artificial ice comprising encircling a bodyof water with a freezing member to provide an external freezing zoneprogressing from the exterior inwardly applying a, freezing memberinteriorly of said body of By draining the impure core water tion fromthe exterior inwardly to provide a solid coreless ice block.

13. The method of producing artificial ice comprising freezing a body ofwater from the exterior inwardly, setting up a completely dividingrefrigerant circulating zone in the interior of said body of water tofreeze outwardly, circulating a refrigerant to and from said internalfreezing zone and eliminating said internal freezing zone to provide ablock of ice with central vacant core.

14. The method of producing artificial ice in place comprising freezinga body of water from the exterior inwardly, setting up a completelydividing refrigerant zone in the interior of said body of water tofreeze outwardly, circulating a refrigerant to and from said internalfreezing zone, and then eliminating the internal freezing zone toprovide two blocks of ice within one container.

15. The method of producing artificial ice in place comprising freezinga body of liquid from the exterior inwardly, setting up a completelydividing freezing zone in the interior of said body of liquid to freezeoutwardly, and circulating a refrigerant to and from said internalfreezing zone to provide two blocks of ice within one container.

16. The method of producing artificial ice in place comprising freezinga body of water from the exterior inwardly, setting up a completelydividing refrigerant circulating zone in the interior of said body ofwater to freeze outwardly, circulating a refrigerant to and from saidinternal freezing zone, then eliminating the internal freezing zone andfilling the space left by removal of said internal freezing zone withwater to be frozen, and completing the freezing operation from theexterior inwardly to provide a solid ice block.

17. The method of producing artificial ice in place comprising freezinga body of liquid from the exterior inwardly, setting up an interiorrefrigerant dividing zone in said body of liquid to freeze outwardly,circulating a refrigerant to and from said internal freezing zone,eliminating said internal freezing zone, filling space left by removalof said internal freezing zone with liquid to be frozen, and completingthe freezing operation from the exterior inwardly to provide a solid iceblock.

18. The method of producing artificial ice in place comprisingencircling a body of water with a freezing member to provide an externalfreezing zone progressing from the exterior inwardly, applying afreezing member interiorly of a body of water to provide an internalfreezing zone progressing from the interior outwardly for a portion ofthe freezing operation, thereby forming progressively narrowing corespaces upon opposite sides of the interior freezing zone, draining theimpure core water from the core spaces, removing the interior freezingmember from the interior freezing zone, filling the core spaces andremoval spaces from the bottom of said body of water and continuing thefreezing operation from the exterior to complete a solid coreless iceblock.

19. The method of producing artificial ice in place comprisingencircling a series of bodies of fresh water in a freezing unit eachwith a freezing member to provide an external freezing zone progressingfrom the exterior thereof in- Wardly, applying a freezing memberinteriorly of each of said bodies of water to provide therein aninternal freezing zone progressively freezing from the interioroutwardly for portion of the freezing operation, thereby forming in eachbody of water progressively narrowing core spaces upon opposite sides ofsaid interior freezing zone, circulating air upwardly through the corespaces in said bodies, draining the impure water from the core sp see ofthe several bodies simultaneously, then removing the respective interiorfreezing members, filling the core and removal spaces of the respectivebodies with fresh water and continuing the freezing operation from theexterior inwardly to provide solid coreless ice blocks.

20. The method of producing artificial ice in place, comprising freezingan external zone of a body of Water from the exterior inwardly, freezingan interior zone of said body of water substantially entirely across andfrom top to bottom thereof from an internal freezing member whereby tofreeze said body from the interior outwardly for a portion of thefreezing operation, thereby forming progressively narrowing core spacesupon opposite sides of said interior freezing zone, agitating the waterin said core spaces by the introduction of air into, the lower portionof said core spaces, removing the impure corewater from the core spacesbefore said core spaces are sealed off, removing the interior freezingmember from said interior freezing zone, and filling said core spacesand said removal space with water to be frozen therein, and continuingthe freezing operation from the exterior inwardly to complete thefreezing operation and provide a solid coreless ice block.

21. The method of producing clear artificial ice in place, comprisingencircling a body of water with a freezing member to provide an externalfreezing zone progressing from the exterior inwardly, applying arefrigerant circulating dividing zone in said body of Water from top tobottom, to provide an internal freezing zone progressing from theinterior outwardly for a portion of the freezing operation, and formingprogressively narrowing core spaces upon opposite sides of said interiorfreezing zone, removing the impure core-water from said core spacesbefore said core spaces are sealed off, removing the interior freezingmember from said interior freezing zone, and filling said core spacesand said removal space with water to be frozen therein, and continuingthe freezing operation from the exterior inwardly .to complete thefreezing operation and to provide a solid coreless ice block.

GEORGE L. POWNALL.

